Francine Fischer, a longtime resident of West Tisbury, loving wife of Abel Fischer and mother of Judy and Rick, died on May 9. She was 85.

Fran and Abel both discovered the Island in the late 1940s and began living here in the early 1960s.

Fran will be remembered for her prolific culture, including a contribution to Island art, concentrated on seaweed drawings.

She exhibited regularly at fine galleries, and her work will continue to be exhibited.

For 30 years she owned and ran Clocktower Antiques, and was a regular at our flea markets.

In the early 1970s she managed the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair.

A passionate gardener and lover of music, she loved our varieties and in true Island fashion, collected sea glass — especially the blue pieces.

Fran’s love of our Island coined one of our favorite sayings: “What a place.”

She will be remembered on Friday, May 16, at 10 a.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, 130 Center street in Vineyard Haven.